Crack the Jury Code: How a New Tool Is Driving Verdicts and Settlements
Episode Summary
Host Brendan Lupetin interviews the creators of Predict, a jury research and analytics tool available through Precise Trial. Pete Mansmann is the CEO of Precise Trial and Rich Epstein and Oscar McKnight founded a consulting firm called Scientific Legal Services that uses statistical data to predict the outcome of litigation. As Rich explains, Predict has many applications for lawyers throughout the trial process. The guests break down the science behind Predict, describe how it uses AI and “human-assisted AI,” and outline its different products. Ultimately, they suggest that the real value for lawyers is the case concepts that Predict reveals, rather than win probabilities or award amounts.
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- For the first time, Brendan welcomes three guests on the show: Pete Mansmann, CEO of Precise; Rich Epstein, of counsel at Roetzel & Andress and a collaborator with the third guest, Oscar McKnight, a statistician who designed the model that supports Precise’s Predict case-strategy evaluation tool.
- Oscar explains how he uses “Delphi” groups for Predict and how they differ from traditional focus groups.
- Trial lawyers can benefit from many applications of Oscar’s model, Rich says, because it can predict a jury’s response to a case.
- The Predict reports are presented in segmented, bite-sized chunks so that the fact pattern is revealed “almost like a movie,” Oscar says. Rich notes that, when clients read the reports, they identify strengths and weaknesses of the case “much more powerfully than you can tell them.”
- The Predict reports are also condensed to 1,500 words, a strategy that is designed to let the volunteer readers screen for important information and focus on the facts.
- Predict has two products – Vista and Infusion – that use AI and human-assisted AI. The products differ in the number of participants. Each has advantages depending on the lawyer’s needs.
- The most important thing that the Predict tool offers a lawyer is critical concepts about the case – not win percentages. The best use of the service, Rich explains, is for trial lawyers to take the themes and apply them.
Rich Epstein
Oscar McKnight
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